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I guess it proves wrong those who have said 'you can't cure a virus'. Not to rain on anyone's parade, I wonder, though, whether it's an outright cure or whether the Hep C is just at very, very low levels indefintely. Either way, it's encouraging for those who have Hep C.

In 1992 they just came out with a test for Hep C. In 2007 it is, in some people, curable, and they've been talking about this possible cure for a few years now. This proves that medical science CAN progress at a fairly swift pace.

Now if only they'd just get in gear and do the same for HIV (which, over the years, has received a lot more funding and much more attention than Hep C)!

thank you for posting this, although i do not have hepC this is fantastic news, for example, a cure for a virus... that is a big headline, this gives hope for many other diseases and perhaps hiv in a combo with types of interferon - i met a guy at a support group for hiv who is flying to east coast to get IL or interferon, so many new immune mod meds great great news, great find great post

School of Medicine, and chief of hepatology and medical director of the Liver Transplant Program at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, is one of the lead investigators in the study, which was presented at the 38th annual Digestive Disease Week conference in Washington, D.C. VCU was among about 40 sites worldwide studying pegylated interferon alfa-2a, manufactured by Roche Inc. Nearly all -- 99 percent, of patients with hepatitis C who were treated successfully with peginterferon alone, or in combination with ribavirin, had no detectable virus up to seven years later. Researchers say this data validates the use of the word "cure" when describing hepatitis C treatment as successful treatment is defined as having undetectable hepatitis C virus in the blood six months following treatment.

been three days since this thread started, now i feel more than ever that this is a huge breakthrough, i never thought a cure for hepC would come so fast and so powerfully, amazing, this gives great hope for many areas many diseases, immune modulation therapy, chemicals that immune system produces

Nearly all -- 99 percent, of patients with hepatitis C who were treated successfully with peginterferon alone, or in combination with ribavirin, had no detectable virus up to seven years later. Researchers say this data validates the use of the word "cure" when describing hepatitis C treatment as successful treatment is defined as having undetectable hepatitis C virus in the blood six months following treatment.

Calling it a "cure" only six months following treatment is a bit optimistic and perhaps misleadingly so. When I did the treatment, I was told the benchmark for being considered cured was two years undetectable post-treatment. My ex-husband - who has the same genotype as I do - became detectable after treatment somewhere between six months and a year post-treatment.

I'm still undetectable four years post-treatment, so it's probably safe to say I've achieved a cure. I was being tested for hcv viral load every six months and it was only after my four year test came back undetectable that my doctor decided it was safe to only check once a year. My next hcv VL test will happen at the beginning of next year. People can and do become detectable again after treatment, but with each passing year it becomes more unlikely to happen.

It will take time to know if this new "cure" is any better at acheiveing a sustained response. Hep C has a way of rebounding. I'm not trying to be a downer here, I'm just being realistic.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts